Scientists at the University of California, Davis, detected
the H1N1 (2009) virus in free-ranging northern elephant seals off the central
California coast a year after the human pandemic began, according to a study
published today, May 15, in the journal PLOS ONE. It is the first report of
that flu strain in any marine mammal.
“We thought we might find influenza viruses, which have been
found before in marine mammals, but we did not expect to find pandemic H1N1,”
said lead author Tracey Goldstein, an associate professor with the UC Davis One
Health Institute and Wildlife Health Center. “This shows influenza viruses can
move among species.”